Your feelings are a liar

[jetfire]

So I have the new XD(M) 5.25 Competition gun; I'm writing it up for Harris Tactical for publication later this year. This does mean I have to shoot it, and shoot it a lot, because I refuse to write an article that uses the phrase "acceptable combat accuracy" or "I fired 100 rounds through the XD and found it totally reliable".

Anyway, I really didn't want to like this gun. I've had two XDs in the past, one was a huge pain in my ass, and the other was just "ok", nothing special. I shot this last night, and here is some of the mundane data that won't make it in the article. The first rounds I fired out of the gun were three consecutive FAST Drills, prior to that I had only shot 50 rounds through it the day I picked it up.

FAST 1: 5.37
1.72/.88/2.19/.23/.22/.21
FAST 2: 4.79
1.77/.65/1.76/.22/.19/.20
FAST 3: 4.68
1.62/.54/1.85/.24/.21/.22

Reloads suffered a lot because the magwell on the thing is tiny.

Bill Drill: 2.35 clean
99 Drill: 86/99
Best 1 shot draw: 0.96
Best reload of the day: 1.36 (slide-lock)

After looking at the numbers, I was thinking "hey, this gun is pretty awesome", because those are good times. I started believing that the gun was helping me shoot better that night, and during an informal IDPA practice match that evening, I shot very well.

So then when I got home, I pulled out the spreadsheet and compared those numbers to numbers I'd posted with my factory Glock 34. With one exception (group size) they were are all largely the same. The reason I "felt" that I was shooting better was simply because the XDM didn't experience any of the malfunctions that my Glocks have been having when using BVAC once-fired brass. I felt like I was shooting better because I wasn't worried about the gun running. The fact of the matter is that I wasn't shooting any faster or more accurately, I just had a "good" night.

The timer doesn't lie (http://pistol-training.com/archives/5108).

[LOKNLOD]

I always "feel" like I'm shooting better with a new/different gun (assuming it doesn't suck to begin with), and I think a lot of it is that when we shoot something different we are actually paying attention to details we're ignoring when shooting a gun with which we're more familiar. I think that contributes to the "gun a month" guys that are always chasing the next best thing; without any data, they're "feeling" like that new gun is really making a big improvement for them. Of course some are just looking for reasons to buy a new gun because it's more fun for them than practicing with the one they have.

[jetfire]

The crappy thing about my job is that it's fairly difficult to stick with one gun for extended periods of time. "Caleb, we want you to write up gun x" means that I'll have to stop shooting whatever it is I really like and go shoot this other thing.

[Wheeler]

The crappy thing about my job is that it's fairly difficult to stick with one gun for extended periods of time. "Caleb, we want you to write up gun x" means that I'll have to stop shooting whatever it is I really like and go shoot this other thing.

Yeah, it really sucks to be you. :rolleyes:

[jetfire]

If there is one universal truth, it's that when a man finally finds his dream job/woman/car/whatever, he will find some aspect of it about which he may complain. ;-)

Like being Mark Zuckerberg, for example - "Oh dammit, all these supermodels are getting altitude sickness from having sex on this bigass pile of money! This sucks!"

[Wheeler]

Every person I have ever known that has turned their hobby into a job complains about how their hobby has become their job. I'm looking for a low stress job that doesn't require much travel and pays really well so I can have time and money to shoot more. ;)

[seabiscuit]

The crappy thing about my job is that it's fairly difficult to stick with one gun for extended periods of time. "Caleb, we want you to write up gun x" means that I'll have to stop shooting whatever it is I really like and go shoot this other thing.

Just curious: how much time do you spend with the guns you evaluate? Do you notice a degradation in performance when you return to your regular setup?

I've always thought there's something to be said for being able to pick up anyone's gun and be able to manipulate it if needed. Do you think familiarity with a wide variety of weapons is a useful skill?

[DonovanM]

The crappy thing about my job is that it's fairly difficult to stick with one gun for extended periods of time. "Caleb, we want you to write up gun x" means that I'll have to stop shooting whatever it is I really like and go shoot this other thing.

Oh jesus, way to humblebrag Caleb :rolleyes: (WTF? this smiley looks retarded)

If you want to make yourself feel better, you could always lend a poor, humble college student (me) your G34 :D

[jetfire]

Depends on the article/gun. For example, the Sig 1911 TacOps I used at Todd's class earlier this year was part of the article for the class, so I could have pulled it out and shot it at that one class and then boxed it back up. On the flip side, the XD(M) is for a feature article about the XD(M), which to me means that I should at least give it a fair evaluation and shoot a minimum of 1,000 rounds through it.

In general, I try to make sure that my deadlines for gun specific articles give me at least a month's time with the gun to really shoot it and get a feel for it. While the smart business thing would be to turn and burn as many guns in and out of here as possible so I can write as many articles as possible, I'd actually rather write a thorough review of a gun and talk about things that people may not notice until their round count starts to get up around 4 digits.

I haven't noticed any skill degredation due to the switching around, what I have noticed is that because I may be shooting a 1911 one month, an XD next month, or a Glock a month later that my developmental curve is a bit longer. For example, this year for work I've fired 13 different handguns and racked up over 20,000 rounds with those guns. I've gotten tremendously better as a shooter this year, there's no doubt of that, but I also believe that if all 20,000+ of those rounds had been through the same type of gun, my growth as a shooter would have occurred even faster. Here's a kind of breakdown of what I've done so far in terms of guns.

1. XD(M) 5.25 - 507 rounds
2. Lone Wolf Timberwolf - 3586
3. Glock 34 - 1075
4. Colt 1911 Rail Gun - 2164
5. ParaUSA 1911 9mm - 1190
6. M&P Pro Series .40 - 1368
7. S&W 686SSR - 1580
8. Sig 1911 TacOps - 4154
9. Sig P250 - 5226

Those are just the top 9 in no order; take the 5k+ rounds I fired through the Sig P250. The time I spent mastering the DA trigger on that gun could have been spent honing my shooting with the vastly superior trigger on the Glock 34, or you know, something else. So while I don't think it's negatively affected my performance in that it makes me shoot worse, I do think all the gun switching for work slows my progress towards GM down.

[Wheeler]

On the other hand, if you decide to give up your decadent, high-rolling lifestyle as an internet media mogul and go work for one of the shooting schools, proficiency with varous platforms will come in handy. :)

[seabiscuit]

That makes sense. I figured some skills would translate, and others wouldn't. Thanks for the in-depth reply.

[vecdran]

I had a chance to fire this gun on Tuesday. It has the best stock XD trigger ever, which is still worse than a Glock trigger, but better than a M&P trigger. With only about 10 practice rounds through the gun, I went and ran two bill drills at around 2.3s with it, dropping 1 shot on the first. For comparison, I'm usually around 2.05-2.15 with my P30L. It's a very easy gun to shoot, but I still don't like the trigger (longish rolling break), and the magazine release is impossible to use without breaking your grip on the gun.

I will say it's a good looking gun. Pretty much the only two-tone gun I have ever liked the looks of.

[ToddG]

Every person I have ever known that has turned their hobby into a job complains about how their hobby has become their job.

Then they weren't doing it right.

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.”

-- L.P. Jacks (often misattributed to James Michener, "Zen Sayings," and François-René de Chateaubriand)

[jetfire]

I hadn't seen that quote before, thanks Todd. That is actually the goal of being my own boss is to eventually reach that point.

[texag]

I have that quote on my dry erase board on the fridge. I should read it more often.

[Wheeler]

Then they weren't doing it right.

Most of the folks I know who have started their own business are very good technicians or are masters at their craft. As such, once you add accounting, payroll, FICA, State tax, SS tax, workman's comp., liscensing, continuing education, etc. it really does become a chore. When I started my own business I found out very quickly that I am a much better electrician than accountant. Thus, it's no longer any fun. Doing what you love for a living vs turning it into a business aren't necessarily the same thing.




“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.”

-- L.P. Jacks (often misattributed to James Michener, "Zen Sayings," and François-René de Chateaubriand)

[Tamara]

If there is one universal truth, it's that when a man finally finds his dream job/woman/car/whatever, he will find some aspect of it about which he may complain. ;-)

I was reading Robb Allen's blog the other day and he referred to a picture of some pistols in his favorite caliber and I thought to myself "*sigh* I used to have a favorite caliber..." :(

That's one thing I envy about Frank W. James. He's been shooting and writing about guns and shooting for a long, long time, but at the end of the day he's still Farmer Frank first, and I think that's really helped him keep that passion for guns and shooting.

[Wheeler]

I was reading Robb Allen's blog the other day and he referred to a picture of some pistols in his favorite caliber and I thought to myself "*sigh* I used to have a favorite caliber..." :(

That's one thing I envy about Frank W. James. He's been shooting and writing about guns and shooting for a long, long time, but at the end of the day he's still Farmer Frank first, and I think that's really helped him keep that passion for guns and shooting.


That is probably the most insightful observation that I've seen in a long time. Thanks for putting things in perspective Tamara.